Gene is going to take over this conflict and be better than his friends. |
6. Essential Element | Quote | Sentences | Symbolism | “The traditions had been broken, the standards let down, all rules forgotten.” Pg. 66 | Devon was falling apart. This problem is symbolic to the relationship of Gene and Finny ever since the tragedy of Finny. Now everything around them was crumbling. | Conflict | “I didn't trust myself in [sports], and I didn't trust anyone else. It was as though...boxers were in combat to the death, as though even a tennis ball might turn into a bullet. This didn't seem completely crazy imagination in 1942, when jumping out of trees stood for abandoning a torpedoed ship. Later, in the school swimming pool, we were given the second stage in that rehearsal: after you hit the water you made big splashes with your hands, to scatter the flaming oil which would be on the surface.” Pg. 76 | We now understand how subordinate Gene is to sports. Now he’s so full of guilt about taking sports away from Finny, and he could never be as good as he was. Also, he doesn’t have Finny with him to accomplish these sports. | Transformation | “‘Listen, pal, if I can’t play sports, you’re going to play them for me,’ and I lost part of myself to him then, and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first: to become a part of Phineas.” Pg. 78 | Instead of being the athlete, Finny will stick side by side with Gene and